Dual-Boot another Windows 7 on a Windows 7 computer

Last reviewed: July 2009

October 2013: This is the new location for this page on this site. Please update your link or bookmark.

Introduction

This guide shows how to correctly and safely create a natural dual-boot of Windows 7 with a second Windows 7 on a computer with Windows 7 already installed. You can then run either of those two Windows by selecting one from a menu during bootup. No data loss will occur and a third-party boot utility is not used.

In this procedure you need to shrink the Windows 7 drive to make room for the new Windows 7.

32 and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 Home Basic, Enterprise and Ultimate were used in testing so this will also work with Windows 7 Premium and Professional. The computer used was a 32-bit Dell Optiplex with Pentium 4 (2.26GHz), 2.0 GB RAM, 1 TB SATA or 160 GB ATA hard disk.

The procedure used is quite easy and suitable for users of all abilities.

Important Installation Notes

Full Installation CD/DVDs. The Windows you are adding cannot be installed from Recovery or Repair CDs or DVDs provided by some OEMs. You need the full installation or setup version to install a Windows.

Details: Install second Windows 7 when Windows 7 is already installed

It's important to follow the instructions exactly as stated and you should have a properly working Windows.

Make your preparations

Backup important data before making any changes to a partition. You can burn files to a CD, clone an image of your hard disk, copy files to a USB flash/pen/thumb drive, or use an USB external drive (a good choice)

Repair Windows 7 Startup

You will not have any problem if you follow the instructions as stated above. However you might encounter some freak occurrence like a power failure during an installation. Windows 7 will boot again if you execute the following procedure.

Bootup any Windows 7/Vista installation DVD or even from NeoSmart's free Windows 7 System Recovery Disk.
It must be a 64-bit version if a 64-bit Windows is installed.

Press a key when you see Press any key to boot from a CD or DVD.

Select your Language and then Time....

Select Repair your computer (bottom left of the Install now screen).
An automatic check of your system will run.